Vintage Country Dishes That Johnny Cash Enjoyed

Johnny Cash is a titan of American music. From his first album in 1957, on the Memphis-based Sun Records label, until his final one in 2002, he inspired generations of fans. His versatile talents and rockabilly style earned him the rare achievement of inclusion in the Country, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Hall of Fames. While his musical contributions have been well-celebrated, many curious fans were left to wonder what the iconic artist liked to eat.

There is a trail of clues left behind, like the photograph from a Tennessee reporter who took a picture of him enjoying pie at the local diner. Additional hints are scattered in the lyrics of his music. But the most insightful knowledge came from his son, John Carter Cash, the only child of Johnny Cash and June Carter. 

In 2018, he gathered the family recipes into "The Cash and Carter Family Cookbook." Most of the recipes are vintage country dishes reflective of Johnny Cash's humble upbringing on an Arkansas farm. Additionally, there are classic Southern recipes from June Carter's family with variations unique to the region of Virginia where they lived. Follow along as we explore some of Johnny Cash's favorite foods according to fans, friends, and family. These vintage country dishes provide a glimpse into The Man in Black's dining room and a picture of what he was like offstage.

In 1950 Johnny Cash left the farm he grew up on to join the Air Force, where he served for four years. He had a deep respect for service members, so it wasn't surprising when he shared his signature chili "recipe" for the 1992 USO celebrity cookbook. He had a long relationship with the USO and partnered with them to bring several performances to troops stationed overseas, including a trip to Vietnam in 1969.

Twenty-six years after the recipe was public, his son revealed that it was more of a starting point than a blueprint. In the family cookbook he quotes Johnny Cash as saying, "I guarantee I use this recipe. I start with it anyway ... then from there, each and every time, I go a slightly different direction." His son called the preparation "whimsical" in an interview with NPR. 

Fellow musician and friend John Prine was a fan of the chili. His first taste was in 1993 when he invited Johnny Cash to his birthday party. Cash wasn't able to make it, but he sent a handwritten note that said, "Sorry I can't be at your party, but to get there I'd have to travel." He also sent a bowl of homemade chili to accompany the note. That was the first of many bowls he shared with him, and in the family cookbook it claims that Johnny's chili was an all-time-favorite for John Prine.

Since chili was his signature dish, it's natural that cornbread was also one of his favorite foods. The two go together better than peanut butter and jelly. But while Johnny Cash certainly enjoyed warm cornbread with his chili, that wasn't his favorite way to enjoy it. One of his favorite treats was cornbread crumbled in a tall glass of buttermilk and scooped out with a spoon. Perhaps Johnny Cash was an inspiration for eating cornbread and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

John Carter Cash said cornbread was everyday fare around their house. Further demonstrating the prominence of the dish, it was one of the recipes shared on the official Johnny Cash website to promote the cookbook. The Cash family followed a traditional recipe, but the (optional) diced jalapeño hints at a proclivity for spicy food. This trend towards spice is a theme that surfaces many times in Johnny Cash's favorite dishes. The family recipe suggests baking the cornbread in a cast iron skillet, which is the traditional way to do it. Johnny Cash liked crunchy food, so it is easy to guess that he preferred the crispy edge pieces that were toasted by the hot iron. 

Biscuits and gravy are a quintessential Southern breakfast and one of the foods most commonly associated with Southern cuisine. According to John Carter Cash, it was a meal they had at least twice a week while he was growing up. He warned that gravy recipes are simple, but the technique can take time to master. But with a little practice, it is easy to avoid making mistakes that lead to lumpy gravy. 

There are two gravy recipes in "The Cash and Carter Family Cookbook," which indicates how seriously Southerners take their gravy. The first one is June Carter's mother's recipe and is a regional variation unique to the part of Virginia where she lived. What distinguishes it is the addition of tomatoes and sugar at the end. The second recipe is simply called "Johnny's Sausage Gravy," and is a more traditional Southern preparation of sausage, flour, and milk. 

While the cookbook provides two styles of gravy, there is only one option for June Carter's buttermilk biscuits. John Carter Cash warns that the biscuits are best made with self-rising flour, which can be hard to find outside the South. It's not a deal-breaker though, and his directions include instructions for making the biscuits if self-rising flour is not available. Johnny Cash loved spooning warm sausage gravy over fresh baked buttermilk biscuits. 

During his interview with NPR, John Carter Cash absolutely raved about a concoction his mother made that she simply called "stuff." It is the type of casual down-home dish that many families invent for weekday dinners. He described it as a cheesy, fried vegetable dish. To start, his mother would fry potatoes and carrots in a skillet, and then add bell peppers and mushrooms before finishing with onion. She would then top the vegetables with pepper jack cheese and let it melt through the dish.

This recipe provides additional evidence that the family liked spice. John Carter Cash said the dish has to be made with pepper jack cheese. Without the hot peppers it doesn't taste like his mom made it. He also mentioned there was always hot pepper sauce around the Cash and Carter home. He includes a recipe for a homemade hot sauce made from habaneros and vinegar. It would add a fiery kick to this dish that would likely make Johnny Cash happy.

While her son fondly remembers homestyle dishes like "stuff" that his mom would make for the family, friends also praise her more refined dishes. "No one ever left June's table hungry," longtime friend Karen Robin said in the cookbook, via Cowboys & Indians magazine. She recalled that every dinner hosted by June was an event, and the food was always special. One of her favorite dishes was June's heavenly hash paired with a fresh berry compote. 

Heavenly hash is a decadent Southern dessert typically made from whipped cream, canned fruits, and marshmallows. There is not a standard recipe for heavenly hash, but there are a few general ingredients typically used. One of those ingredients is chocolate, but you won't find it in June's variation. Her recipe calls for two shortbread cookies, preferably Walkers, placed in a dish and then topped with a mixture of whipped cream, fresh pineapple, shredded coconut, and marshmallows. She would finish it with a topping of compote made from butter and fresh berries. It was a treat she served for guests and a sweet way for Johnny Cash to end a meal with friends. 

Several years before he published the cookbook, John Carter Cash hosted on AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit where he answered the burning questions fans had about his parents. This session provided some of the first insights to Johnny Cash's dining habits. When the question of food came up he replied, "My father liked crunchy peanut butter. Fried catfish. And deep-fried chicken skin." You can bet a catfish lover like Johnny Cash knew the only spice you need for delicious fried fish.

Fried catfish is a traditional Southern soul food dish. Historically, the fish has been inexpensive and cooks quickly, making it ideal for a crowd. Since a fish fry was often a social occasion, catfish has a reputation as a party food. There is not a catfish recipe in the "Cash and Carter Family Cookbook," but there is a recipe for Johnny's spicy tartar sauce. His recipe called for mayonnaise, diced onion, lemon juice, caper, and Louisiana hot sauce. It's evident from many of his favorite dishes that Johnny Cash enjoyed crunchy and spicy foods. He understandably would have enjoyed the hint of spice his homemade tartar added to the crispy fried fish. 

Bologna and eggs was a no-fuss breakfast that Johnny Cash loved, and bologna might just be the ingredient your breakfast has been missing. John Carter Cash doesn't say it directly, but this sounds like the breakfast he got when it was dad's turn to cook. He said Johnny would cook the bologna until it was extra crispy and on the verge of burnt. When he was done with the bologna, he'd scramble eggs in the same pan. He didn't waste time beating the eggs, he'd crack them directly into the hot skillet and give them a few tosses with the spatula. Bologna and eggs wasn't served with June's buttermilk biscuits, this breakfast got the canned ones. 

As you might have guessed from the name, bologna originated in Italy. It's hazy how it was brought to North America, but many speculate that it traveled with German immigrants since it was most popular in areas where they settled.  Bologna was common across the South during the depression. It was more affordable than ham or salami which made it popular with working class families. Fried bologna was likely a breakfast treat while young Johnny Cash was growing up on the Arkansas farm. It is clearly a meal that he enjoyed, and one that he liked to cook for his family. 

Johnny Cash's mother had a cake recipe that was written entirely in Biblical code. The recipe she baked for Johnny was her own, but not the concept. Scripture cakes were popular in some communities, particularly around Appalachia, as a fun way to combine Bible study with baking. These cakes were an ideal dish to take to church potluck since they demonstrated both baking prowess and a devotion to Bible study. 

The way a Scripture cake recipe works was to swap a Bible verse for ingredients. Decoding the recipe required looking up the verse for a clue. For example, the recipe card might say, "beat 1 cup Judges 5:25." When the baker flipped to the passage they would find a clue: "He asked for water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish." The baker would decipher this to understand that butter was the proper ingredient. Specific recipes varied, the way the recipe was written was the most important part. But, if you want to try the one that Johnny's mother made, it is available in Kay West's cookbook "Around the Opry Table."

Beans were a staple on the farm when Johnny Cash was growing up and remained a favorite food throughout his life. There are a lot of ways to make a pot of beans, but some Southerners will tell you that a ham hock is the secret weapon. Johnny Cash agreed, and that is what his recipe calls for. The ham hock comes from the lower part of the leg. It's a thick bone with a small amount of meat wrapped in a band of fat and typically comes smoked. During a long simmer, it adds a rich, salty flavor to the beans that is similar to bacon. At the end, you can cut the sweet ham meat off the bone and toss it back in the pot before serving. 

Johnny Cash released "At Folsom Prison" in 1968. It was a live album recorded inside the prison walls in front of an audience of inmates. On it, he performed "25 Minutes to Go," a song about a prisoner counting down the minutes until he is led to the gallows. The prisoner orders beans for his last meal. That would make sense given Cash's love for beans except he didn't actually write the song. The song was written by children's book author and songwriter Shel Silverstein, who also wrote "A Boy Named Sue." Regardless of who wrote the lyric, Johnny Cash agreed that beans make a fine meal — even for breakfast.

A reporter for the Kingsport Times News celebrated his 20 year work anniversary by recalling his 12 favorite memories from the beat. Third on the list was the time he was the only reporter in the newsroom when a call came in that Johnny Cash was eating lunch at the local diner. He grabbed a 35mm disposable camera and rushed out for an interview. He doesn't recall what happened next, just that Johnny Cash was really nice and really liked his coconut cream pie. He snapped a picture of Johnny with the spoon hovering between plate and mouth to prove it.

It's difficult to determine the specific origin of the coconut cream pie, but we know exactly what spurred it's creation. The coconut was an uncommon fruit in America in 1895 when a miller in Philadelphia was paid with a load of it. The hard shell posed a challenge for Americans unfamiliar with the fruit, however, the miller dried and shredded the coconut in his possession. In this form, the coconut had a longer shelf life and made it easier to use for home cooks. Coconut cream pie was a delicious way to use the fruit, and there is photographic evidence that it was something Johnny Cash liked to eat.

The Cashburger was an invention of Johnny and June's that was found on a handwritten recipe card dated October 1995. This recipe is less of a vintage country dish and more of a healthy reinvention of a classic. The Cashburger is a vegetarian patty made from a mixture of brown rice, soy beans, sunflower seeds, and a bushel of vegetables. The handwritten recipe specifies that all the ingredients were available at 4 Seasons Health Food Store in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The produce section must have been large, because the veggie burger included onions, okra, carrots, bell peppers, potatoes, squash, mushrooms, and corn. Johnny and June used fresh produce, so they didn't need to worry about getting the metallic taste out of canned vegetables.  

Luckily, John Carter Cash took it on himself to translate the recipe into a more accessible one for fans who want to make the patties. It wasn't an easy job, the original handwritten recipe listed all the ingredients, but not the quantities. Without even a Bible verse to provide hints, he went into the test kitchen and experimented until he perfected the original Cashburger. He included his tested recipe, with ingredient quantities, in "The Cash and Carter Family Cookbook." That makes it possible to taste one of the healthier options that Johnny Cash enjoyed.

As we previously saw in John Carter Cash's Reddit AMA, Johnny Cash loved crunchy peanut butter. He expanded on that when he wrote the cookbook and said that his father loved peanuts. They were one of his favorite snacks. When Johnny Cash could find green peanuts, he liked to roast them himself. His recipe for roasting them is included in the cookbook, but it is pretty standard. Just toss them with a little oil and salt and roast until they turn golden. 

A love for peanuts is something that Johnny Cash shared with Jimmy Carter. Maybe that is why they got along so well, but it also might have helped that the president was rumored to be a distant cousin of June Carter's. Johnny Cash visited him at the White House and helped fundraise for his 1980 reelection campaign, but that wasn't the only president he hobnobbed with. In addition to Jimmy Carter, he also met with presidents Ford, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, and both Bushes. We couldn't find evidence that he shared a peanut snack with any of these presidents, but we know if they offered he would have been pleased.

In his song "Sugartime" Cash sings about "sugar in the morning, sugar in the evening, sugar at suppertime." While he was poetically referencing a more amorous style of sugar in the song, it still provides insight to his tastes. As we've seen with coconut cream pie and June's heavenly hash, Johnny had a sweet tooth. Pineapple pie is another dessert that he reportedly enjoyed, and his mother's recipe was (obviously) his favorite. It was a simple one that only included six ingredients: pineapple, sugar, butter, eggs, flour, and vanilla extract. 

The popularity of pineapple pie is traced to the Pillsbury company. It introduced a just-add-water pie crust mix in 1950 and printed a recipe for pineapple pie on the box. From there, popularity soared. The advertisement claimed that a pie like this was a sure way to sweep someone off their feet. Johnny Cash's mother's recipe varied slightly from the original, but it did the trick in winning Johnny's approval. Next time you find a ripe pineapple by giving it a good squeeze, it might be time to try one of Johnny Cash's favorite desserts.